Blizzard Entertainment on Tuesday showcased its latest edition “World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria” at a press conference held in Seoul.

Launched three years after its predecessor “World of Warcraft: Cataclysm,” "Mists of Pandaria" premiered in Korea as Blizzard’s the fourth expansion set.

The game company will give the public a chance to try out the new "Mists of Pandaria" for free starting on Thursday. "Mists of Pandaria" will begin nationwide charged service on Oct. 1.

The new game involves encounters with a neutral tribe called Pandarens, and players are able to choose between Alliance and Horde while carrying out their quest.

In addition to the field raids featured in the regular map, "Mists of Pandaria" offers pet battles and up to around 1,700 quests.

“Some people like more to fight when some people like to go collect things,” said lead software engineer Marco Koegler from the U.S. headquarters, referring to the vast variety of the game’s quests and scenarios. “We wanted everyone to have fun.”

According to Blizzard, "Mists" is Blizzard’s first attempt to employ an Asian theme for the "World of Warcraft" series. It has an animated three-dimensional setting and features scenes from ancient Northeast Asia.

“’World of Warcraft’ has become more of a culture than a game,” Blizzard Entertainment Korea managing director Paik Young-jay said in an opening address. “’Mists of Pandaria’ will set a new standard for the massive multiplayer online role-playing games.”

Helen Cheng, the "Mists of Pandaria" game designer from Blizzard’s California headquarters, said that some of the cooking skills in the game features Korean signature liquor soju and "beondegi," a well-known Korean snack.

By Chung Joo-won (joowonc@heraldcorp.com)